Mobile theater-type classroom

ABSTRACT

A mobile theater-type classroom comprising an elongated and generally horizontally extending enclosure formed by a front vertical end wall, a rear vertical end wall, substantially vertical side walls spaced from each other and connecting at their side edges with the side edges of said end walls, a substantially horizontal roof extending across and connecting with the top edges of the side and end walls, and a floor member extending across and connecting with the bottom edges of the side and end walls, the floor member extending in a generally horizontal direction but having a major portion at least thereof inclined downwardly from a location near the front end of the enclosure towards and to a location near the rear end of said enclosure, the slope of said inclined portion being between 1 1/2 inches and 1/4 inch per foot.

United States Patent [1 1 Connely, Jr.

[ Sept. 18, 1973 MOBILE THEATER-TYPE CLASSROOM [76] Inventor: Ralph R.Connely, Jr., 710 W. 9th

St., Claremore, Okla. 74017 [22] Filed: Mar. 24, 1972 [211 App]. No.:237,771

Primary Examiner-John E. Murtagh Attorney-William S. Dorman [57]ABSTRACT A mobile theater-type classroom comprising an elongated andgenerally horizontally extending enclosure formed by a front verticalend wall, a rear vertical end wall, substantially vertical side wallsspaced from each other and connecting at their side edges with the sideedges of said end walls, a substantially horizontal roof extendingacross and connecting with the top edges of the side and end walls, anda floor member extending across and connecting with the bottom edges ofthe side and end walls, the floor member extending in a generallyhorizontal direction but having a major portion at least thereofinclined downwardly from a location near the front end of the enclosuretowards and to a location near the rear end of said enclosure, the slopeof said inclined portion being between 1% inches and V4 inch per foot.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures MOBILE THEATER-TYPE CLASSROOM FIELD OF THEINVENTION The present invention relates to a mobile classroom, sometimesreferred to as a trailer. More particular, the mobile classroom of thepresent invention is of the theater type in that a portion of theflooring is inclined so that suitable training units can be disposedupon the inclined floor in auditorium fashion.

THE PRIOR ART Mobile classrooms have been provided heretofore for thesame general purposes as that of the present invention. The prior artmobile classrooms included vertical end walls, vertical side walls, asubstantially flat roof and a substantially flat flooring. Although theterms front and rear" are obviously relative, a blackboard and/orprojector screen are generally located at the rear of the classroom andthe instructors console is generally mounted at the front of thevehicle. Between the instructors console and the blackboard there aregenerally mounted, along each side of the classroom, six or sevenindividual training consoles for the students. If, for example, theclassroom is designed for driver education, each unit for the studentwould have a clutch, steering wheel, brake pedal, etc., plus a pluralityof buttons to be pushed for answering questions that might be asked bythe instructor. The reactions and answers of the students are conveyedby suitable wiring, generally located beneath the flooring, to theinstructors console where he can monitor the results. Where desired, aprojector can be mounted on or adjacent the instructors console toproject onto the blackboard or onto a screen which might be superimposedon the blackboard. Occasionally, the instructor will position himself infront of the blackboard using the latter for purposes of instruction.

In order to prevent interference between successive student consoles forviewing the blackboard or screen or the instructor at the blackboard, ithas been generally necessary to provide successive incremental elevationin the form of pedestals beneath the student consoles as well as beneaththe instructors console. Thus, starting from the rear towards the frontof the classroom the pedestals will be successively higher to provide atleast 2 inches in elevation between successive student consoles. Thus,if there are seven consoles in a row (on each side) the last pedestalwill add 14 inches of height from the floor. Therefore, the instructor'sconsole will have to be mounted on a platform (or other pedestal) sothat he can see over the last student console. With the pedestals and/orplatform referred to above, it is sometimes difficult or inconvenientfor the students to properly sit themselves in their consoles and,occasionally, a student will trip over or against a pedestal orplatform.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention involves a mobiletheater-type classroom having conventional wheels and a generallyconventional trailer hitch; by virtue of the additional clearanceprovided in the front of the classroom of the present invention,however, the trailer hitch can be located 2 feet behind the forward endof the classroom thereby providing an advantage in towing length as willhereinafter appear. The mobile classroom will have a front end wall, arear end wall, side walls and a roof.

The flooring, however, will not be horizontal as in the case of theconventional prior art mobile classroom. Rather, a major portion of theflooring will be inclined downwardly and rearwardly. Preferably, thefirst portion of flooring to the rear of the front wall will be flat andwill extend rearwardly approximately 8 feet, the trailer in thisinstance being approximately 56 feet in length. The inclined portionwill extend rearwardly and downwardly from the rear end of this firstflat section and will connect with the forward end of another flatsection which extends from this point to the rear of the mobileclassroom. The second flat section preferably is about 14 feet inlength, leaving 34 feet as the longitudinal extent of the inclined floorportion. The inclination of the inclined floor portion is preferablyabout seveneighths of an inch per foot giving a total drop of about 29%inches from the rear end of the first flat portion to the end of thesecond flat portion.

The flooring immediately described above is the interior flooring of themobile classroom. The bottom exterior of the unit, preferablyconstructed of suitable structural steel members, will be locatedperhaps 6 inches below and parallel with the interior flooring referredto above to provide a space for the inclusion of the necessary wiringwhich will be described hereinafter.

A blackboard and/or projection screen will be located on the rear endwall as would be conventional. Also, the instructor's console will belocated on the first flat section adjacent the front end of theclassroom. One student console can be mounted on the rear flat portionand six student consoles can be located along the incline at each sideof the classroom. In order to,

make the bottom of each student console horizontal, it is necessary toprovide a wedge shaped element beneath each student console. However,the wedges are substantially identical and provide relatively littlehazard as far as tripping is concerned. Also, we do not have thesituation where the rearmost student console is 14 inches above thefloor. Thus, all of the student consoles are relatively close to theflooring and a uniform distance therefrom to minimize the wiringdifficulties and the amount of wiring which will be required to connectfrom the instructors console through a power source to the individualstudent consoles.

Another advantage of the present invention involves the effectivehook-up length of the classroom (trailer). With the conventional priorart trailer, the trailer hitch will project forward from the front endof the trailer for approximately 5 feet giving a hook-up length(assuming a 56 foot trailer) of 61 feet. In the case of the presentinvention, however, with the forward flat portion being elevated abovethe lower flat portion, it is possible to locate the trailer hitchbeneath the forward flat portion. In fact, the hook-up point on thetrailer hitch is actually 2 feet behind the front end of the mobile unitof the present invention giving a hook-up length of about 54 feet. Thus,the mobile classroom of the present invention, plus towing vehicle willbe less than feet allow ing transportation through any state withoutexceeding the maximum overall length, which is not possible with theconventional mobile classroom.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the heat exchangeunit for the air conditioner can be located on the cradle for thetrailer hitch instead of on the side or front of the trailer as would benecessary in the case of the conventional type of mobile classroom.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a mobiletheater-type classroom constructed in accordance with the presentinvention; and

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross section (minus hitch and wheels) of themobile classroom shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings indetail, FIG. 1 shows a mobile classroom having wheels 12 and a trailerhitch 14. In the position shown in FIG. 1, the mobile classroom 10 isdisconnected from any suitable towing vehicle (not shown) and the jackportion 16 of the hitch 14 is in the lowered position such that themobile classroom is supported in the proper attitude on the ground 18.If desired, suitable chocks (not shown) can be placed against oppositesides of the wheels 12 to prevent accidental movement of the mobileclassroom 10.

Referring now to FIG. 2 which shows the internal longitudinal crosssection of the mobile classroom 10 (minus hitch and wheels), theclassroom is formed by a generally vertical front end wall 20 and avertical rear end wall 22. The terms front and rear" are merely relativeterms and should not be considered as limiting as far as the inventionis concerned. The roof is essentially a flat horizontal member 24 whichis suitably supported in any conventional manner (not shown). The bottomof the mobile classroom is provided with a forward flat horizontalsection 26, a rear flat horizontal section 28, and an inclined flatsection 30 extending from point A (the juncture between section 26 andinclined section 30) and point B (the juncture between the inclinedsection 30 and the flat section 28.)

Along the sides of the mobile classroom 10 are substantially flatvertical side walls 31, 31, only one of which is shown in FIG. 1. Theexterior of the side and end walls as well as the exterior of the roofare preferably covered with sheet metal and all walls, roofing andflooring are constructed and reinforced in essentially conventionalmanner (not shown). Preferably, the mobile classroom of the presentinvention is provided with a front door and a rear door (not shown)preferably located in one or the other of the side walls 31.

The interior floor of the mobile classroom is provided with a forwardhorizontal flat section 32 which is spaced above and parallel withsection 26; a lower horizontal flat section 34 which is spaced above andparallel with the flat section 28; and an inclined flat section 36 whichextends from the rear end of the upper flat section 32 and the forwardend of the lower flat section 34 and connecting therewith immediatelyabove the points A and B.

Purely by way of example, the embodiment of the mobile classroom 10shown in FIGS. l and 2 is 56 feet in length and 12 feet in width. Theexternal height of the rear vertical wall 22 is approximately 10% feet;allowing for the spacing between the floor 34 and the flat section 28and the thickness of the roof 24, the inside available vertical space onthe end wall 22 is about 9% feet. Similarly, the front end wall 20 isabout 8 feet high externally, leaving approximately 7 foot verticalspace available at the interior of the wall. The front flat section 32extends rearwardly from the front of the unit 10 approximately 8 feet.The sloping portion of the floor 36 extends rearwardly for another 34feet. The rear flat portion 34 extends from the end of the slopingportion approximately 14 feet to the rear end of the mobile unit 10. Theslope of the sloping floor portion 36 is approximately seven-eighths ofan inch per foot giving a total drop over the 34 foot length ofapproximately 29% inches.

Whereas the flooring has been described in terms of a forward flatsection, a rear flat section and an intermediate inclined section, itmight be possible in some circumstances, especially with a shorterclassroom, to omit, for example, the forward flat section, in which casethe inclined section would connect directly from the lower flat sectionto the front end wall. Under some circumstances, it might be possible toretain the front flat section while omitting the rear flat section. Atany event, it should be understood that a major portion, preferablybetween one-half and two-thirds, of the flooring will be inclined.Again, the slope of the sloping floor portion has been described asbeing approximately seven-eighths of an inch per foot. In certaincircumstances, it might be desirable to increase or decrease the slope.However, within the scope of the present invention it is preferable thatthe slope be at least one-quarter inch per foot and no greater than Iinches per foot.

The overall exterior height of the mobile unit described above will beabout 13 feet. Considering the fact that 13% feet is the maximumpermissible height for road clearance in most jurisdictions, then thefront, rear and side walls can be increased in height about 6 incheswith the roof being elevated about 6 inches. On the other hand, it ispossible to decrease the overall height of the classroom below thatdescribed but this might be inconvenient in that tall persons might tendto strike their heads against the ceiling adjacent the forward end ofthe classroom.

Assuming now that it is desired to have the mobile classroom 10 equippedfor a driver training system, there will be mounted a plurality ofdriver training car units 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48 and 50, which will beessentially identical to each other and which will simulate theoperations of an automotive vehicle. The teachers console will bedesignated by the reference character 52. It should be noted that thelowermost driver training unit 50 is resting on the flat portion 34 andthe teachers console 52 is resting on the upper flat portion 32; theremaining driver training car units 38 to 48, inclusive, however, aresupported on the inclined floor portion 36. For this purpose, it isnecessary to provide a wedge-shaped element 54 under each of the units38 to 48, inclusive. The purpose of the wedge-shaped element 54 is tomake the bottom of each of these units horizontal.

With the relationship described previously the vertical staggering ofthe driver training car units 38 to 50, inclusive, is such that eachstudent operator (not shown) sitting in such a unit is easily capable ofseeing a blackboard 56 which can be mounted on the rear wall 22. Also,this blackboard could serve as means for holding a screen (not shown)upon which pictures could be projected from the console 52, which isalso sufficiently elevated above the driver training car unitsthemselves that the instructor can clearly see the blackboard 56. Again,if the instructor wishes to stand on the flat portion 34 to the rear ofthe unit 50, all of the students seated in the various units would becapable of seeing the instructor because of the difference in elevationof the units.

The arrangement as shown in FIG. 2 is such that, with six drivertraining units on the inclined portion 36 the difference in elevationbetween the adjacent units is approximately 434 inches as compared withthe difference in elevation of 2 inches provided by the old system.

Returning to a consideration of FIG. 1, the hitch por tion 14 can bemade to accommodate the heat exchange portion of an air conditioningunit thus obviating the necessity for placing such a unit on one of thesides of the mobile classroom 10. Also, the point of connection orhook-up point 58 is located approximately two feet rearwardly of thefront end 20 of the mobile classroom 10, thus providing a hook-up lengthof 54 feet. Thus, the mobile classroom of FIG. 1 plus towing vehicle(not shown) will provide an overall combined length of less than 70 feetto permit transportation through those states where the maximum limit is70 feet.

The various individual driver training car units 38 through 50 areconnected by means of suitable wiring (not shown) to the console 52whereby the classroom teacher can tell at any given moment what is goingon in connection with each of the units, and can check the responses ofthe individual student operators. The wiring preferably connects fromthe console 52 to a suitable power source (not shown) and to theindividual training car units through the space provided between theflooring 32, 36 and 34 and the bottom of the unit 26, 30 and 28. Becausethe units 38 to 48 are located as close to the inclined portion 36 aspossible, and in a uniform manner, the amount of wire needed to connectthe console 52 to the individual units 38 through 50, inclusive, can bekept at a minimum, thus realizing a savings in wiring costs.

Whereas the present invention has been described in particular relationto the drawings attached hereto, it should be understood that other andfurther modifications, apart from those shown or suggested herein, maybe made within the spirit and scope of this invention.

1 claim:

1. A mobile theater-type classroom comprising an elongated and generallyhorizontally extending enclosure formed by a front vertical end wall, arear vertical end wall, substantially vertical side walls spaced fromeach other and connecting at their side edges with the side edges ofsaid end walls, a substantially horizontal roof extending across andconnecting with the top edges of the side and end walls, and a floormember extending across and connecting with the bottom edges of the sideand end walls, the floor member extending in a generally horizontaldirection but having a first flat floor portion extending rearwardlyfrom the bottom of said front vertical end wall towards said rearvertical end wall substantially horizontally to a first predeterminedlocation, a second flat floor portion extending forwardly from thebottom of said rear vertical end wall substantially horizontally towardssaid front vertical end wall to a second predetermined location, saidsecond flat floor portion lying in a horizontal plane spaced below thehorizontal plane of said first flat floor portion, an inclined floorportion constituting the major portion of said floor member extendingslightly downwardly from the rear of said first flat floor portion tothe forward end of said second flat floor portion, the slope of saidinclined floor portion being between 1% inches and one-quarter inch perfoot, external wheel means located below said enclosure and connectedthereto adjacent said second predetermined location, trailer hitch meanslocated beneath said enclosure rearward of said front vertical end walland connected to said enclosure adjacent said first predeterminedlocation, jack means mounted on said trailer hitch means for supportingthe forward end of said enclosure, said jack means and said wheel meansbeing adapted to support said enclosure on the ground with said firstand second flat floor portions disposed in substantially horizontalrelationship, an instructor's console located on said first flat floorportion, and a plurality of student consoles arranged in spaced relationalong said floor member from said instructors console towards said rearvertical end wall.

2. A mobile theater-type classroom as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidstudent consoles are substantially identical and wherein the studentconsoles which are mounted on said inclined floor portion are supportedfrom said inclined floor portion are supported from said inclined floorportion by means of wedge-shaped elements which are all identical instructure.

i i 1 =8 i

1. A mobile theater-type classroom comprising an elongated and generallyhorizontally extending enclosure formed by a front vertical end wall, arear vertical end wall, substantially vertical side walls spaced fromeach other and connecting at their side edges with the side edges ofsaid end walls, a substantially horizontal roof extending across andconnecting with the top edges of the side and end walls, and a floormember extending across and connecting with the bottom edges of the sideand end walls, the floor member extending in a generally horizontaldirection but having a first flat floor portion extending rearwardlyfrom the bottom of said front vertical end wall towards said rearvertical end wall substantially horizontally to a first predeterminedlocation, a second flat floor portion extending forwardly from thebottom of said rear vertical end wall substantially horizontally towardssaid front vertical end wall to a second predetermined location, saidsecond flat floor portion lying in a horizontal plane spaced below thehorizontal plane of said first flat floor portion, an inclined floorportion constituting the major portion of said floor member extendingslightly downwardly from the rear of said first flat floor portion tothe forward end of said second flat floor portion, the slope of saidinclined floor portion being between 1 1/2 inches and one-quarter inchper foot, external wheel means located below said enclosure andconnected thereto adjacent said second predetermined location, trailerhitch means located beneath said enclosure rearward of said frontvertical end wall and connected to said enclosure adjacent said firstpredetermined location, jack means mounted on said trailer hitch meansfor supporting the forward end of said enclosure, said jack means andsaid wheel means being adapted to support said enclosure on the groundwith said first and second flat floor portions disposed in substantiallyhorizontal relationship, an instructor''s console located on said firstflat floor portion, and a plurality of student consoles arranged inspaced relation along said floor member from said instructor''s consoletowards said rear vertical end wall.
 2. A mobile theater-type classroomas set forth in claim 1 wherein said student consoles are substantiallyidentical and wherein the student consoles which are mounted on saidinclined floor portion are supported from said inclined floor portionare supported from said inclined floor portion by means of wedge-shapedelements which are all identical in structure.